same sex partners for decades and allows same-sex marriages on disney world grounds. and now shock iing the basketball world, hear this, the shockers mauled missouri state 68-45 today, to become the first team in ten years to enter its ncaa tournament undefeated. they are 31-0 in the nak regular season play, and congratulations to wichita state. >> this is cnn breaking news. good ooef evening and hello the viewers in america and around the world. you are this the cnn newsroom and i'm in for don lemon today. this is breaking news on cnn. president obama is joining the effort to defuse a military crisis overseas that is escalating by the hour. this evening, the president spoke with russian president vladimir putin telling them they are breaking international law and violating the sovereignty of

another country, and that is ukraine. we have seen some, but there may be more russian troops inside of the ukrainian borders and mostly in the crimea area to the south. they say they need production, but it is called a dangerous slide toward war. and throughout ukraine and not just crimea, there are protesters fighting with the crowds, and they have already toppled the highest level government. the ukrainian president left office and fled to russia. white house correspondent jim acosta is with me, and fred polite jen is in moscow, and we will start with jim. first the president made it clear that e he is going to stand with the international community in handling the message with ukraine, and it was a tough message in the 90-minute phone call? >> yes, it was a tough message and we know that the presidents spoke a week and a day ago, but developments have been move sog

qui quickly in ukraine with the russian involvement that the president came down hard today in if statement. he said that the united states condemns russia's military intervention in the crimean territory, and i want to put this up on the screen, because this illustrates the statement heref. just how concerned the white house is about what is happening by russia. the united states calls on russia to deescalate tensions by withdrawing the forces back to bases in crimea, and to refrain from interference elsewhere in ukraine. the reason i isolate that particular sentence from the statement, jim, is because it is a couple of things. one is that at this point, does the white house really expect that russia would pull all of the forces off of the streets of crimea? russian president vladimir putin say saying in his own statement through the kremlin released with by the kremlin, they believe it is necessary to protect russian nationalists wholey in ukraine for security

reason reasons in crimea, and there is also this portion of where it says in the statement, any interference elsewhere in the you crepe, and there are kens in the white house what else might happen in crimea and would it go where western crimea would be, and vladimir putin blaming the ultra-nationalists for the upheaval in the country right now. one thing from the phone call and the readout from the white house, the white house is now saying, jim, it is no longer making preparations for the g-8 summit, and to attend the g-8 summit that vladimir putin was supposed to host in sochi in june. and sochi of course, that is where they were just holding the winter olympic games and another time the for vladimir putin to flex the muscle, and put russia on the world stage and the u.s. is saying, well, we may pull back on our involvement.

another thing that we should tell you about earlier, today, jim, the national security team for the president today met earlier at the white house, and vice president joe biden joined in by videoconference, and secretary of state john kerry also as videoconference joined in, and top officials at the meeting such as the director of intel jeps, and the joint chief of staff, and the secretary, and they were looking at the policy options in respect to ukraine and a lot of movement at the white house today when it come ts to the issue of ukraine. this white house and this president if you look at that statement very, very deeply troubled by the events unfolding. >> and well, jim, we also saw in the phone call, the readout from the phone call with president putin, but the first time that president obama has spelled out a penalty for russia's actions there and planning to cut off the attending the g-8 summit, and costs, he specified one of the potential costs, but as it escalates the white house has to

consider other options if it does not have the teeth to the push the russian forces back. are you hearing about what the other options might be that the national security advisers are considering? >> well, at this point, and we should point out that the president was not at that national security meeting, but briefed by the national security adviser suzanne rice, and one thing that we know the national security team is looking at the policy options, but not saying a what they would do, but it is speaking to the limited options what the president can do militarily, and there is no talk of military involvement when it comes to you crepe, but when -- but when it comes to the diplomatic levers, they said that they would like to see russia very much have some trade deals or commerce deal reached between the ud and russia and the senior official saying yesterday, jim, that this activity in crimea, and what is happening in russia does put it in jeopardy. and the white house talking

about things that they can do and the steps they can take, and also things that could happen organically such as the value of the ruble. and the white house is saying at this point, everything is on the table right now when it comes to the penalties and the costs and the consequences for russia when it comes to what is happening in crimea right now. >> and the hard decisions off what exactly the steps they will take. thank you, jim acosta. we have fred pleitgen in moscow, and fred, this is not the first warning that senior merp officials including the president have made publicly against the russian action in ukraine, and what is the reaction there? do the russians bristle when an american president says don't do this or that? is there any intimidation or such power in the president's words or the warn ings coming ot of the white house? >> well, at this point, jim, there is no intimidation whatsoever after this phone call, and certainly ultimately

not after the warning that president obama issued yesterday, and in fact, today, in the parliament here in moscow, there were several parliamentarians who asked vladimir putin to recall the ambassador of russia to the u.s. but he said he would not do that yet or he has not made a decision on that yet, and people are very, very angry when they hear things like that out of the u.s. we were listening to u.n. security meeting where the russian ambassador to the u.n. spent a lot of time for blaming the american nations for fanning the flames in ukraine before the president yankovich was ousted there. and so certainly, the u.s. is being blamed for the things happening there, and at the same time the possible penalties that the u.s. is putting out there, and for instance not participating in the g-8 summit, and also some potential talks of trade deals is not going to go a long way for intimidating the

russians either. i this think that the issue of the crimean peninsula is too important to them, and of the utmost importance and one thing that vladimir putin said in one of the talks with president obama and as well as a phone call with ban ki-moon that he held adds well that he was very, very clear that if he feels that russian citizens are under threat both in the crimean peninsula or in the east of ukraine, and we have been saying how the resolution that was passed today by the russian parliament just doesn't just mention crimea as far as putting the russian forces on the ground, but it mentions all of ukraine, so if in eastern ukraine or in the crimean peninsula, the russians are under threat, he said to ban ki-moon, russia will not be remaining on the sidelines and that is a stark warning that the russians are very serious about this, and especially serious about the crimean peninsula, and very important to them with

strategies. >> and you have charges and counter charges leveled in each direction. thank you, fred pleitgen in moscow. and fou despite the phone call between president obama and president putin, the situation on the ground in ukraine is uncha unchanged. earlier today, russia's upper house of parliament voted unanimously to send troops into crimea, and indeed half of the people living in ukraine are russia. and we are monitoring the situation in ukrainian capital of kiev. ian, what is the government saying about the vote in the russian parliament, and the pushback coming from washington? >> well, jim, we have seen the strongest response so far from the government here in ukraine with that resolution being pass ed in russia. this is the first time they have mentioned the military in any of this conflict so far. earlier, it has always been the diplomatic measures, but this time, they say that the military

is the highest level possible, and any incursion into ukraine by the russian military will be an act of war, and they would respond with their mi military might, and that would essentially cut off any relationship between ukraine and russia. right now though they say that their security forces around nuclear power stations and airports are also on high alert. a although the prime minister said that he is urging calm. that they don't want this to turn into a real shooting war e between the ukrainian military and the russian military. they are watching also the situation in the crimea that once the russians are to leave that area a and pull back to their military base in the crimea, and other troops who have gone into other places from rush sharks and they want them out, and asked for calm, and asked the european union to send in monitors to make shure that

the people in ukraine will not be discriminated against. >> and there was fledgling signs that was said in the u.n. national security meeting earlier today, and he mentioned the possibility of coming out of kiev, the new ukrainian government in kiev to broaden the government, and add more representation in ukraine where you have a heavy population, and can you explain how important it is and how the reception has been to that offer at this point? >> well, that is extremely important, because you are right, the eastern part of ukraine leans towards russia. this is a country that is fairly divided down the middle, and you can't say that one side is completely with the pro europe, and the eastern side is completely leaning towards russia, but it is a very stark contrast there and it is important for ukraine to move forward as a country and as a

whole to have a dialogue between the two sides. remember that it is a government right now that is fairly young, and less than a week old, and usually they would be going about the business of the country, and the economy is doing horribly right now, and they need to kick start that, but they are dealing with the issue of russia, but they will need to have, have dialogue with those faction s ths that feel l they are being left out, and especially the pro russian protester protesters that were seen in the streets and not only in crimea, but also seen in other cities in the east. they are going to have to pacify them and reassure them they are not going to be the second class citizens they believe they will be under this new government in kiev, jim. >> and before i let you go, there are speeches in the background, and that is i imagine, the famous square behind you and are there demonstrators in the square as this is playing out? >> well, there are actually.

they are here all night. it is the early hours of the morning here, and there is speeches and music playing all night, and if you go down to talk to the people, they say that they are also to hold this current government responsible. they have demands that weren't for fulfilled the last time during the last revolution. they say they are not going to make the same mistake twice, and they will stay in the street to keep the pressure on the new government the fulfill the promises that they have made, jim. >> incredible. incredible watch, ian lee in kiev right in the middle of it. an hour ago, the u.n. security council got together for an emergency meeting on the crisis in ukraine, and in that meeting the members stressed that ukraine and russia should use restraint and talk out the differences. senior u.n. correspondent richard roth and elise labot are

join joining me now. and now, richard, we are hearing different events from the russian ambassador and crimean ambassador, and just as we are hearing from president obama and president putin, and can you explain the differences and how to bring the two sides together? >> well, it is not imminent, and the meeting is over, and ambassador turchynov did not stick around and saying that the meeting they had in front of the cameras, formally, they said that the president did not respond favorably to priji inbr the gap. and the president of the council said that there was a general discussion of solutions, but those divisions still continue behind closed doors after the fiery remarks from russian ambassador turchynov. he said that the country was under attack by the russian, and

the russian ambassador scoffed saying that they were stirring up much of the trouble. there is not any agreement at this point. ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general spoke with russian leader putin by phone, and the secretary-general saying that he is gravely concerned about the recent events, and cool heads must prevail, and dialogue is the only tool. he appealed to president putin to engage in direct authorities in kiev, and jim, as we heard earlier, he wanted cooler heas s to pree vail, and he didn't believe that the ukrainian ambassador displayed such calm. back to u, you jim. >> and we go to elise labott, and i understand that you have more information? >> well, jim, just talking to the senior edadministration officials about the policy options in discussion and presented to president obama. of course, we have talked about the carrot and the stick in terms of the carrot that russian

influen influences, that russian influences in ukraine would be considered when the ukrainian government puts together the national unity government, but they are looking at how far is president putin willing to go? is he thinking of a full scale invasion of eastern ukraine, and what is the policy options for that, and with what should they be this is there is possible sanctions on the russian entities and individuals and g-8 and other things that they can do, but they know that russians will retaliate. if you look at what happened with the magnitzi act and what did the russians do? they ended all international adoptions, and they know that there is some kind of retaliations from the russians but if they feel that the russians are going to go all of the way and go into ukraine any further, they have to be willing to do something to show that there is a cost for that, jim. >> yes, trying to define what the cost is right now, and see if it is effective. thank you, elise labott at the state department for us. and coming up, it has actually taken months of

protests and tension to get here. we will have the back story next. and senator bob corker is going to join us live and he will tell us why the conflict in ukraine is bringing back memories. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and a good source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips.

welcome back. cnn continues to follow the k crisis on the ground in ukraine, and now here in the u.s., a republican senator is slamming president obama's response so far to the crisis there. tennessee senator bob corker say says that quote, obama really doesn't have a plan, and corker says that vladimir putin is seizing a neighboring territory again, and congress will consider targeted sanctions against the russian persons and entities that understood mine the sovereignty and territory integrity of ukraine. and now senator corker joining us on the phone live. you and sen to mccain, and we had adam schiff on earlier, and

saying that targeting possibly travel and going after the foreign assets, and how powerful of a path is this and influential, and is that really the best weapon in effect in the administration's arsenal at this point? >> well, it is one of the weapons, but i want to say that i did appreciate both what the president had to say today, and i think that our conversation with secretary kerry who has had strong conversations with the counter part in russia, so i do think that they have been slow to the table. i think they understand what is at stake, and i do think that they are stepping up the game. much of what i think that they are going to need to do is to take congressional approval, and we stand ready to work with them. i think that you know that we are working this weekend with senator menendez to put in place some sanctions, but as you mentioned, sanctions are one of the routes. there are trade issues that we

can deal with. other countries in the region, i think they are going to be stepping out, and strongly condemning what russia is doing. at the end of the day, russia needs to be isolated, and basically to even think that they are a member of the g-8 is almost an insult. this is an autocratic petro state. the g-8 is something that is set up for industrialized democracies. the fact that they are even a member is should be greatly questioned, and certainly we should not attend the g-8 meeting in their country, but what you will see is an orchestrated chorus of isolation, and you will see nato, not militarily, but doing some consultant work with each of the countries, speaking with one voice, but we need to do everything that we can to isolate this country which obviously is still smarting from the breakup of the soviet union by a leader that is nothing but an autocrat, and he has a

self-image that is very different than what nations in this day and age act upon. >> i want to the ask you, senator corker how it would work, because the viewers are cu curious how the sanctions would play out, and who they would target in effect. you talked about targeting individuals or entities behind these decisions, these military moves. how high up would this go? to the russian officials or the russian president? how do you target them, and how does it play out in the coming weeks and months then? >> well, yeah, we have already a mechanism this place that allows us to target individuals, and we can do so without naming who it is that we are target iing. we can do things with the visas, and we can do things regarding the freezing assets, and i mean, a whole list of things that we can do. i think that of greater importance though is sanctions against the country, itself.

sanctions against the entities within the country. isolating them relative to trade. isolating them relative to gatherings if you will where other important nations, if you will have discussing oral issues, but at present, look, i'm going to be honest, i think that it is going to be very difficult to pull them away from the activities carried out in crimea, and it is too important to themming in, and i don't think that there is much that nations are going to be able to do to keep them from carrying out their will there. this is the same, same kind of game plan carried out in georgia not long ago. i think that we need to do everything that we can to resist anymore of that activity within ukraine, itself, and the rest of ukraine. but, again, i think that they are set on crimea. we are going to be seeing that they are going to have continued involvement there. if we continue to see it, we need to do everything that we

can to isolate them. to push them into the different stanc stance. >> just so i am clear there, senator, before i have to let you go, you are saying that with the measures that you are discussing, and the options available to the president, you they russia is going to stay in ukraine? >> i think that they are going to, the crimea portion where the naval base is, i think that it is very difficult to, to keep them from carrying out their will in thatter a y earea. i think that you are going to see other nations isolate them. you are see us do everything that we can to isolate them, and i'm sure that you are going to see congress wanting to weigh in hand in hand with, with the administration to see it happen. also on the other side of this, we have got to do some things relative to loan guarantee, and those kinds of things that calls to the country of ukraine,

itself, to be able to function. and people there are in great economic strife. we have got to work with europe, with the imf to do those things necessary, but transition them while we are putting pressure on russia to monitor to mitigate their conduct if you will. >> right. and all of that pressure may be a price that russia is willing to pay, and thank you, senator bob corker, senate foreign relations committee. and now, as this continues, other countries are experiencing rise. are we seeing the cold war revisited? hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff,

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this is cnn breaking news. >> and welcome back. in many ways you can trace what is happening in ukraine to the waning days of world war ii in something called the yal ta conference, and it happened in the crimea region of ukraine where the events are taking place today. and it was 1945 and it was president roosevelt, and joseph stalin and winston churchill met. but then they renege and set up the satellite states and the cold world followed stalin's efforts.

and now, coming back to talk about it is former ambassador christopher hill on the phone, and steven cohen, professor emeritus at the princeton and columbia university, and this is where past is a prologue, and i want to start with you, first, ambassador hill. what do we see here that is similar to the cold war days, but without going so far, because there are many differences as well, but is russia, and this is a point that we talked about before trying to set up the old sphere of influence that it had before of the fall of the berlin wall, and before the collapse of the soviet union? >> well, if you live in poland and i have lived there for several years, the polls often say that a russia without ukraine is just russia, but russia with ukraine is somehow a recreation of the soviet union, and these are huge stakes, and you are quite right, it goes back to the waning days of world war ii, but it goes back to before that when stalin essentially gave parts of poland

and helped to create the modern republic of ukraine. so they have been manipulating the borders for a while. and now what we are seeing is a, you know, this is not yeltsin, but this is putin, and whether he is going in to crimea as a first step or whether he is going in to put incredible amount of pressure on the people of kiev, these are huge moves, and it is very clear that he is not so concerned about, you know, what are the sanctions that the european union and the u.s. comes up with, but he is concerned about playing this russian nationalist card within his country. >> and you know, it is interesting, because you mentioned boris yeltsin and he is a cautionary tale among the russian leadership, and they look at him as having given up russia's power in effect. and now over to steven cohen, and how much is that driving force when you look at someone like president putin in his words and views, i won't repeat

jelt s yelts yeltsin's mistake, but i will stand up, and hold on to the countries that we consider part of our sphere. >> it is not a factor, and you have to understand already if you don't already what we are witnessing. we are witnessing the possibly worst history of our lifetime. we are watching the descending of a new cold war divide between the west and the east, and only this time, it is not in far away berlin, but right on russia's borders through the historical civilization in ukraine, and it is a crisis of historic magnitude, a fnd you ask how we got into this, how we got into the crisis, and how therefore do we get out, it is time to stop asking why putin is doing this or that, and but ask about the american policy, and the european union policy that led to this moment. >> let me ask you, what were the mistakes in your view that led to this moment.

>> i don't know if you your listeners or views remember george mckennon who was one of the greatest russian thinkers, and when we expanded under bill clinton, that this is the most fateful mistake in foreign policy and lead to a new cold war and george lived to the 100s, and he died a few years ago, but the truth goes marching on. and now continuing under bush and continuing under obama, and right now it is on russia's borders and if you want to know for sure, and i have spent a lot of time in moscow, but if you want to know what the power elite thinks that ukraine is about, it is about bringing it into nato. one last point, that so-called economic partnership that yanukovych, the elected president of ukraine did not sign, and that set off the protests in the streets in november, which led to this violence in and the kconfirmatin

today, that so-called economic agreement included military clauses that say that ukraine by signing this civilization agreement had to abide by the nato military policy, and that is what this is about from the russian point of view, the ongoing march, and putin had no choice, and he has no choice, and if you put him in the corner, you are going to be seeing worse. >> and that is a sobering assessment. and ambassador hill, let me ask your view, did the u.s. bring russia too close to the backyard, and do you share stephen cohen's assessment that we are headed back into the cold war-type situation. >> well, i would share that there are those who want to bring nato to russian borders and the russians are not prepared to accept that, and they are not accepting the black sea fleet somehow having to move and have that base turned into a nato base. they are concerned about the possibility of nato being there,

and the dynamic took place a few years ago with respect to georgia. so absolutely, there is a lot of reason to be very, very concerned about russian attitudes here, and why it is going to to be kind of hard to dissuade russians. on the other hand, the russians realized that if you have a dismembered ukraine, and that is if you only have a western ukraine that is somehow independent, that western ukraine will act with kind of impunity toward russian long-term interests, and so it is going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy if putin moves against eastern ukraine, then western ukraine will move more quickly into a western orbit. right now, ukraine has always been a kind of delicate balance of east and west, and obviously, that delicate balance has been affected in the last couple of months, but a lot of the problems has been yanukovych's very, very poor handling of the

economy that has tipped the balance toward those who want to see a closer relationship with western europe. so i think that it is that we are in a very sobering moment. i do not agree with the notion that we should not have enlarged nato, and should not have brought poland in and these others burk i do believe that we have to understand that when you get right up gaiagainst the rusn border in places like georgia and ukraine, you have to really think very carefully about those kinds of moves. >> well, it is a sobering assessment from both of you and that what is happening in crimea, a tie theny corner of ukraine has implications of the region and very much beyond. and thank you, stephen cohen who is nyu professor, and princeton emeritus and christopher hill. and now just a few days ago

president obama announced the my keeper's initiative, and he wants to em ppower boys to beat the psyche isle of crime and broken homes. in a speech of thursday, he told the story of maurice owens, one of the young staffers who beat the odds. our don lemon talked to him about the obstacles that he had to overcome. >> many of my friends were drug dealers and growing up in the bronx, i lost 16 friends to gun violence and drugs and jail. it is just, it was a norm for everything that was not to be conducive to somebody achieving higher goals which is not just an urban nightmare you would call it. >> reporter: but this president did what he said, him acknowledging you and your mom, and making an initiative for young men of color across the n

to you? >> well, it sang praises to my mother, and what she wanted to make of my life, and i can only thank the blessings of god for that, and it means to me that the president cares, and he is invested in people like me, and people like him. what does an apron have to do with car insurance? an apron is hard work. an apron is pride in what you do. an apron is not quitting until you've made something a little better. what does an apron have to do with car insurance? for us, everything.

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we are not taking our eyes off of the situation in ukraine, and will continue our coverage, but rosa flores has more of the big stories we are watching at cnn. >> good ooevening to you, jim, d those of you at home. a deadly attack at a chinese railway station has killed 28 people and injured more than 100 others. police say that a group of people armed with knives stormed the station in southwest china

and they say that five of the suspects are dead, and several o others were caught. police are calling it a premeditated terrorist attack. right now, there is no word of a motive. in denver, a massive pileup on an ice-covered freeway. police say that 104 vehicles slammed into each other today on interstate 25. one person was killed. 20 others were injured. a woman who was on the road at the time says that it was snowing, and the pavement was icy, and she says that the drivers were trying to slow down, but they just kept hitting each other. and the envelope, please. movie fans are getting ready for tomorrow's oscars are keeping the fingers crossed that the rain that is pounding california will end before the big show starts. but that is maybe not going to happen. walls of mud and waters have washed through the roads and communities near los angeles,

and hundreds of people have been told to leave their homes and more rain is expected through the weekend. i know that, jim, all of the folks are going to oscars are going to the want the red carpet dry, because those gowns are really expensive. >> i would not want to get my gown wet. >> and keeping the fingers crossed for them for sure. >> thank you, rosa flores. ahead, what if russia does take military action in ukraine, and we will ask our pentagon correspondent barbara starr about that next. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets.

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h this is cnn breaking news. the tension in ukraine remind reminds many of the cold war days, and if the russians decide to move even more troops into ukraine, experts say they can do it in almost no time, and that would leave little time for any u.s. response, and all of that has the pentagon's full attention, and the pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us by phone right now. barbara, we have talked about this a lot, and you have a major russian military base there right across the border from rush sharks and do they have the presence and the power to do what they are threatening to do, occupy the country in effect, and get the forces in there quickly? >> well, you know, this is the key question that the pentagon and the cia are watching right now, jim, as you well know.

how will they do it, and if they decide to do it, what comes next? will they go be able to capture enough airfields and control enough airfields to to get into heavy transport aircraft that would have to bring in large numbers of troops and supplies a and that sort of thing? are there the rail lines across the border e for them to bring in armored vehicles? getting in perhaps sustaining it over a long period of time, resupplying it, it is going to be a challenge. many u.s. experts say when they look at russia. it is a long supply line to keep that kind of operation up significantly for a long period of time. but, look at all of the unrest that they have and the churn in the world in the last 48 hours with just perhaps as many as a few thousand troops, and so the level of concern is quite significant, jim. >> and now, barbara, how about the ukrainian military? do they have a formidable force

or substantial force to stand up to what the russians can put into that country? >> well, the ukrainians have some capability, certainly. they have been struggling in recent years to modernize. but then you have to sort of ask yourself the question, is this going to be a force on force conflict or tank versus tank, and artillery versus how witser versus artillery versus how w s witser? that may be something that the russians don't want to do, and show a different hand. they want to be in the light weapons and the light precision weapons and the light armored vehicles and when we have seen the pictures that we have seen, these are not heavily armored troops. there could be certainly some, but the russians are going in light. very maneuverable, and that may

be an advantage that they have in what -- there would be very difficult for the ukrainians to koucounter across the country. >> and i imagine for the west and europe to counter as well, a stealth occupation. thank you very much to barbara starr at the pentagon. russia is threatening to move even more troops into the ukraine, and so what is the end game? up next some answers from a former u.s. ambassador.

this is cnn breaking news.

>> welcome back. we continue the follow the breaking news. russian's parliament voting today to give president vladimir putin permission to use troops inside of ukraine. so what is the end game here for russ russia? we are joined again by christopher hill, the ambassador to kariokorea and poland, and s explain, ambassador hill, what you think that the hopes of russian hopes to gain here? >> well, one would hope that when obama spend 90 minutes talk talking to putin, he posed the question, because right now, it is unclear. it might be that putin wanted to make a clear statement that crimea is something that is very much russian. we are not going to see that go to the west. and so, kind of making a clear statement that there are limits to what they are prepared to see in ukraine. so that is one possibility. but then the other possibility of course is that he would be,

this is a precursor to going after all of eastern ukraine, and essentially recreateding a partial soviet union, and that is a rather frightening prospect, frankly speaking, and it is something that would force the western countries to look at a lot of very unappetizing policy choices, and you know, throwing away the key, and throwing the russians in the deep freeze means 20 years of trying to work with russia just down the drain. so there are a lot of problems with that, but down think that we can sit there and do nothing. i think that we have to have a strong reaction to this move. and so, one hopes that there can be a resumption of the dialogue, and the idea of international observers is a possibility, and maybe we could sweeten the pot by making a lot of, putting a lot of the russians in that international observer force or something like that, and think they it is going to be really

tough, and what we hope is that kiev can understand that russia does have an interest in this. and that they are going to come up with a government in ukraine that recognizes that interest. >> and ambassador hill, senator bob corker on the air said something a short time ago that they are considering in the senate, and the white house reactions and the punishments for russia, and the penalties for this, and he said that no matter what we do, russia is going to stay. sobering, do you share that assessment? >> well, it is a sobering assessment. and now i think that there are a lot of nuances to this. if russia dismembers ukraine and grabs the eastern part, they are pretty much asured that the western part will gallop westward and that is not in russia's interests, so maybe they are trying to simply put a heck of a lot of pressure on kiev to come up with a government that respects sort of russian interests in this. as they, you know, look to cut

the deals with the european union and other things. so, so i think that it is a time for diplomacy, and it is time for making sure that we don't have mixed or mixed signals or we don't miss signals, and so even though that there is a certain grim inevitability of some of this, we need to really stay in touch with the moscow, and it is kind of unfortunate that we don't even have an am bas dor there now, and we really, really need to kind of step up the diplomacy with the russians right now. >> and the russian parliament is asking putin to recall the russian ambassador to the u.s. today. thank you very much, am bbassad chris hill. the impact of the russian decision to spread into ukraine may go into both of their borders. we will explain how after this. [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills.

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